United reportedly held exploratory talks about an audacious move for the 23-year-old earlier this month in an attempt to reinforce their insipid attack

Barcelona boss Luis Enrique refused to deny Manchester United had made an approach for Brazilian forward Neymar.

United reportedly held exploratory talks about an audacious move for the 23-year-old earlier this month in an attempt to reinforce their insipid attack.

Reds manager Louis van Gaal said he wants to add ‘speed and creativity’ up front and name checked Neymar as a player who is a different ‘class’ from United’s other creative players, reports the Manchester Evening News.

The club would have to pay around £137m for Neymar, who has three years left on his contract, and Enrique appeared to be unperturbed by the recent speculation.

“Talking about Neymar and other clubs doesn’t interest me,” Enrique said after Barcelona’s narrow 1-0 win at Athletic Bilbao on Sunday. “I don’t talk about rumours.

“I focus on what happens in my team.”

Neymar did not feature in Barcelona’s opening La Liga win after he contracted mumps and did not feature in the club’s Super Cup ties with Sevilla and Athletic.

Barcelona were so desperate to buy Neymar from Santos in 2013 that former president Sandro Rosell resigned over the allegation he misappropriated funds from the signing, which the club was charged with tax fraud over.